Monday, November 29, 2010

We are finally back to posting, after a particularly rough start to our year (we have two words to describe that--Graduation Project). Now that we are back being to our usual creative library selves, we would like to share our adventures as we add Nooks to our book collection!

I (Lucy) have batted around the idea of having Nooks or Kindles added to our library collection in order to renew interest in reading, and to expose our students to new technology that delivers print formats. In other words, I wanted to make reading exciting again. I have a Nook, and Ethel has a Kindle. They are very cool--we both enjoy our e-Readers, and I thought the students would too. I started my adventure by using Google to find out if others had blazed this path--and of course, they had! Many thanks go to Buffy Hamilton, who started this adventure long before me when she purchased Kindles for her library, and Jennifer LaGarde, who has purchased Nooks for hers. Here are links to their invaluable sites.

My first task was to find funding. Luckily, my budget, which came to me in early November, had increased from last year. I decided to make two big purchases with it, and just pray other supply money comes our way. I purchased a new scanner for our circulation desk (the other gave us over 15 years of service, but is tired and sketchy), and I purchased 6 Nooks and their cheapest cases from Barnes and Noble. I also purchased from eBay the protective cases and the overlay film for the screens. I used funds designated for books to get my first check for e-Books (more on this later as it deserves its own post).

Why Nooks? After reading the posts of Library Girl and the Unquiet Librarian, then talking to my local Barnes and Noble rep, I went with Nooks because I can have lessons and support from my local store (by local, I mean it is 45 minutes from our school). While they did not offer to come to our school and do the setup, I do like that the rep will help me in-store. I also already had a Barnes and Noble institutional account, so purchasing the Nooks was easy. I like that I can share one book with six Nooks by setting up an Barnes and Noble account with an email for every six Nooks. I like that I already have a Nook, and know how to use it. I also like that I just went to the store, and badda-bing, I had six Nooks in my hand (I did call ahead a day and reserve them).

I had my TA video my first observations about our process. More in the next post.